Internal-combustion engine



W. NOBLE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 11, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 w N a Oct. so, 1928. v v I 1,690,030-

, W. NOBLE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 11, 192'? 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTQR W W/kw I 4m ,1 ATTORNEY Oct. 30, 1928. 7 1,690,030 I w. NOBLE v INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April 11, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct 30, 1928.

UNITED STATES wannm'r norm, or nnrnorr, "moment.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Application filed April 11, 1927. Serial No. 182,668;

This invention relates to internal combustion, engines or engines having cam-operated valves and has for its object to provide a novel camshaft drive having unique features of construction, application and operation which will be hereinafter more fully explained.

Ordinarily, in internal combustion engine practice more especially, it has been usual to locate the camshaft in the crankcase, or at least close to the crankshaft of the en ine and incidentally remote from the hea of the engine, in order to secure a desirable drive as free from complications and noise as possible, although no doubt as' a result of the realization of the desirability of locating the camshaft closer to the engine valves, it has been suggested to arrange the camshaft in or about the cylinder head, but such arrangement has involved the use of chains, extended trains or gears, or bevel gearing, which introduced undesirable complications of mechanism, back-lash and had the especial disadvantage of noise.

It is, therefore, an important object of this inventionto provide an arrangement of camshaft drive wherein the camshaft may be located remotely from the crankshaft, in or about the cylinder head of the engine, and operated without introducing noise such as is occasioned by the use of chains or gear trains for the camshaft operation, and which camshaft drive will not seriously interfere with the removal of the cylinder head, or with ac-essibility to the camshaft and its connections for adjustment or other pur poses.

The invention also proposes to provide a simple means in such camshaft drive of affording operation of a further shaft, such as the generator shaft of an engine, and of effecting the operation of such further shaft at crankshaft speed if desired.

The invention has for a further object to provide a camshaft mechanism in the head of an engine and to drive this mechanism, together with a generator or other shaft, by means of a single connecting rod from the "rankshaft; and also proposes to utilize the third connection of the said connecting rod, namely, the connection with the generator or other shaft, as a means of. securing a threepoint mounting of the said connecting rod, preventing a dead-center condition arising between the crankshaft connection and the camshaft mechanism connection, which condition might otherwise result were a direct two-point connection employed.

In automobile and similar en ines, a rear end location of the camshaft rive is contemplated by the said invention, thereby admitting of a simple front end construction of the engine free from the usual complicity of camshaft timing gears, or mechanism ordinarily so located at the front end of an engine.

A further object of the said invention is to provide, as a amp for the supplying of fluid to a desire part of the engine, gears operating as part of the camshaft drive; and a still further object is to provide a pump casing housing the said camshaft gears and adjustable to provide for regulation of the location of the. connection between the camshaft-connecting rod and the camshaft gearing to provide for slightdifferences in the distances of the camshaft from the crankshaft, in the replacement or assembling of cylinder heads, due to variations in the cylinder heads themselves or in gaskets between the cylinder and the head of the engine.

Still further objects or advantages sub sidiary or incidental to the aforesaid objects,

or resulting from the construction or operation of the invention as itmay be carried into effect, will become apparent as the said invention is hereinafter further disclosed.

In carrying the said invention into effect, I may provide the rear end of the crankshaft of an engine with an additional crank from which extends upwardly a camshaft connecting rod to ,a crank in the rear end of the cylinder head, which crank operates a gear meshing with a second gear which 'in turn is keyed to the rear end of a camshaft journalled in a detachable cylinderv head; the said gears being housed in a casing to which an inlet and outlet are provided and operating as a fluid pump. The said connecting rod is ofiset intermediate its length and pro-. vided with a journal engaging the crank on the end of a generator shaft of the engine, whereby the lower crankshaft, the intermediate generator crank and the upper camgear crank operate in" unison. The pump or camshaft-gear casing is rotatable about one of the camshaft gears to vary the normal elevation of the axis of the camshaft-gear crank above the base of the cylinder head and a locking member is provided for securing the pump casing in adjusted positions.

All of which is more particularly described and ascertained hereinafter, by way of example, having reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a sectional rear end elevation of an engine, embodying the said invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical section of the same taken on the line 2" X of Figure 1;

Figure?) is a fragmentary detail section taken on the line 3"3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 4"4" of Figure l;

Fi re 5 is a similar view to Figure 1 of a mo ified form of the invention; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical section taken on the line 6 6 of Figure 5.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In an internal combustion engine it is the parts around the combustion head that call for most frequent inspection and cleaning, and occasionally for replacement, and in the drawings I have shown an engine design wherein the cylinder block 1 is integral with the upper part of the crankcase 2 and the cylinder head 3 is detachable from the cylinder block, and carries certain mechanisms, to be described, in such a way that the linking of mechanical elements carried by the crankcase and cylinder block with the mechanical elements carried by the cylinder head is reduced to a minimum, thereby minimizing the disconnections to be made to permit the removal of the said cylinder head and permitting an engine design which lends itself excellently to ready servicing, such as desirable in automobile engines.

The camshaft 4 is shown as being mounted in the said detachable head for the operation of valves (not shown) in any suitable manner, such as, for instance, by the hydraulic means described in the copending application of Warren Noble and Leon V. Pittman, Serial Number 182.667 filed the 11th day of April,'1927, to which arrangement the pres ent invention is eminently adapted. In the rear end of the said detachable head is a valve gear chamber 6 housing a pump casing 7, which in turn houses a gear pump comprising the gears 8 and 9. a

T e gear 9 is mounted on the rear end i of the camshaft 4 and, in addition to forming part of the gear pump referred to, also forms part of the camshaft drive and is driven by the said gear 8 which is rotated by the operation of a crank 10 connected thereto. This crank is journalled in the said pump casing and also in a bearing member 11, carried by the said pump casing 7.

The crank 10 is driven directly from the crankshaft 13 of the engine by a connecting rod 14, the lower end of which is connected to a crankpin 15 provided on the rear end of the said crankshaft 13 for that purpose, and the upper end of the crankpin 10" of the crank 10.

This connecting rod is also ofi'set intermediate its length or extended to one side of a lane through the end connections of the said rod, and the so offset portion of the connecting rod is provided with a bearing 16 which receives the crankpin 17 of a crank 18 mounted on the end of the shaft 19 of a generator 20, so that the operation of the connecting rod by the crankshaft 13 results in the rotation of the generator shaft at the same speed and also the rotation at such speed of the upper crank 10 which, in turn, through the gears 8 and 9, operates the camshaft 4 at one-half engine speed with the gear ratio shown.

It will be understood that with a detachable head it may not be always ossible or convenient to machine the lower ace of the head and the upper face of the cylinder block so accurately with respect to the crankshaft center and to the camshaft center that, with interchanging of heads, an absolutely true relationship of these two centers will always be ensured; and to provide for the rectifying of slight error in this direction which may exist, the pump or gear casing 7 is rotatably adjustable about the center of the camshaft, whereby such adjustment will admit of the raising or lowerin of the center of the camshaft crank 10 relative to the lower face of the said detachable head. Thus, for instance, if a head when applied to a cylinder block is found to have the camshaft center somewhat closer to,the crankshaft center of the engine than may be considered normal, the casing 7 may be rotated to raise the center of the crank 10 to a corresponding extent to agree with the connecting rod centers as will be readily understood; and in the event of the opposite condition obtaining, where the center of the camshaft is a greater distance than the normal with the engine crankshaft center, similar adjustment is effected by rotating the casing 7 in the opposite direction.

21 is an adjustable bolt carried by the end cover plate 12 of the cylinder head for securing the said casing 7 in any position of adjustment. The adjustment referred to eliminates the necessity for precision in the thickness of the cylinder heac gasket 22, which would otherwise be necessary where such a gasket is used.

The cam gears 8 and 9, operating as a pump. are indicated in this example as operating to pump oil from a reservoir 23 at the base of the crankcase through a condu t 24 to an oil chamber 25 in the cylinder head by way of the inlet port 26 and discharge port 27 of the pump, and this oil may be utilized under pressure or otherwise for many of the common purposes for which oil is ordinarily pumped in an engine, such as for lubricating, or may be utilized for coolmg or for valve operation as described in the aforesaid co-pending application, Serial Number 182,667.

on the rear end portion of the detachable cylinder head to afford by its removal, access to the upper end of the connecting-rod 14, so that the disconnection therefrom of the cap 28 may be easily effected.

In Figures 5 and 6, the mechanical op-- erations of the connecting rod and the parts which it operates are identical with those already described with reference to Figures 1 to 41:, inclusive, but the arrangement differs in the means for effecting the adjustment to compensate for' variations in centers to meet the requirements of an inter-' changeable head. In this case, the variation is made by increasing or decreasing the distance between the upper and lower centers of the connecting rod instead of maintaining these constant as inthe previous example and varying the center 9f the camshaft crank; to this end aconnecting rod 14 isprovided which has an upper bearing end 28 mounted thereon for adjustment by means of shim material 29 situated between the said bearing member 28 and the said upper end of the connecting rod 14. The pump casing 7 is non-rotatable and secured to the cylinder head 3 by bolts 33. i

It will be obvious that the thickness of the shim 29 will determine the distance between the center of the said bearing member 28) and the center of the crankpin 15 of the engine crankshaft, and it will consequently follow that disregarding variations in the actual location of the opposed faces ofithe engine block and the detachable head, the use of a thicker gasket 22 between those faces may be compensated for by the use.

of a thinner shim 29, and vice-versa. Thfis, where the said opposed surfaces of the cylinder block and detachable head have been carefully machined and located relative to the engine crankshaft and to the camshaft, respectively, a laminated shim of a predetermined standard thickness may be utilized. and sufiicient laminations may be peeled from the shim to fit between the asket separated faces of the cylinder bloc and the detachable head, after which the balance of the shim will be of the required thickness for the shimming out of the bearing member 28 from the end of the connectmg rod 14, To facilitate the determination of the amount of lamination to be peeled from the shim, if this method be adopted, the cylinder block and the detachable head are provided, respectively, with lugs 30 and 31, the spar ing 32 of which may be operated as a gauge for measuring the thickness of the portion of the shim to be removed.

It will be quite obvious that the connecting rod 14 or 14 may operate without noise and without back-lash, such as would result from the use of an extended train of gears, of bevel gearing, or of a chain drive, to effeet the operation of a camshaft situated in the cylinder head, and its simplicity and robust nature is abundantly apparent.

Furthermore, the use of the camshaft gears as a pump also simplifies the engine mechanism considerably; and the adjusting feature, explained herein, permits of the parts being assembled correctly but readily without involving such precise construction and machining to ensure interchangeability of the cylinder heads as would otherwise be necessitated, whereby the therefore, renders possible the servicing of automobile engines by the replacing of cylinder heads complete with valves and valve operating mechanism both quickly and accurately. The advantages of this will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains.

This invention may be developed within the scope of the following claims without departing from the essential features of the said invention, and it is desired that the specification and drawings be read as being merely illustrative and not in a limiting sense, except as necessitated by the prior "art.

What I claim is':- i

1.' In an engine, in combination with a.

crankshaft, a camshaft remote from said crankshaft, camshaft gearing, a detachable mounting for said camshaft and said gearing whereby said camshaft, its mounting and said gearing maybe removed from an engine or renewed as a unit, a crank operably connected to said gearlng, a corresponding crank on said crankshaft, a connecting rod cou,

pling said cranks, and adjustable means determining the location of said first mentioned crank relative to the axis of said crankshaft thereby compensating for slight dimensional differences in interchanged camshaft mountings.

2. In an engine in combination, a detachable cylinder head structure, a crankshaft in the lower part of said engine, a camshaft mounted in said cylinder head structure, and camshaft driving means comprising camshaft gearing in said cylinder head structure,

invention.

a crank operably connected to said gearing, a corresponding crank on said crankshaft, a further crank mounted in said engine offset from a plane extending through said first mentioned crank, and a connecting rod coupling all of said cranks together for synchronous operation.

3. In an engine, in combination, a detachable cylinder head structure, a camshaft mounted in said cylinder head structure, a fluid manifold in said cylinder head, a gear pump in said cylinder head, and means operating said camshaft through the gears of said pump, said pump discharging into said manifold.

4. In an engine, in combination, a detachable cylinder head structure, a camshaft mounted in said cylinder head structure, a fluid, manifold in said cylinder head structure, a gear pump in said cylinder head structure, means operating said camshaft through the gears of said pump, said pump discharging into said manifold, an oil reservoir in the lower part of said engine and an inlet connection to said pump extending from said reservoir.

5. In an engine, in combination, a detachable cylinder head structure, a camshaft mounted in said cylinder head structure, a crankshaft in the lower part of said engine, a connecting rod extending upwardly from said crankshaft into said cylinder head structure, gearing connecting the upper end of said connectlng rod to said camshaft, and a pum casing housing said gearing whereby sai gearing operates as a gear pump.

6. In an engine, in combination, a detachable cylinder head structure, a camshaft mounted in said cylinder head structure, a crankshaft in the lower part of said engine, a connecting rod extending upwardly from said crankshaft into said cylinder head structure, gearing connecting the upper end of said connecting rod to said camshaft, a pump casing housing said gearing whereby said gearing operates as a gear pump, said casing being adjustable about the axis of said camshaft to vary the axial position of the connection between the connecting rod and gearing relative to the axis of the crankshaft, and means for securing said casing in adjustment.

7. In an engine, in combination, a lower structure, a rotary engine element in said lower structure, a cylinder head structure, a camshaft, a gear pump, said camshaft and said gear pump being mounted in said cylinder head structure, a connecting rod operating said camshaft from said engine ele ment through the medium of said gear pump.

8. In an engine, in combination, a rotary engine element, a camshaft, a gear pump, one of the gears of said pump having driving connection with said camshaft, a crank operating said gear pump, and a connecting rod establishing driving connection between said engine element and said crank.

9. In an engine, in combination, a lower structure, a rotary engine element in said lower structure, a detachable cylinder head structure, a camshaft mounted therein, camshaft gearing in said cylinder head structure, a connecting rod establishing driving connection between said engine element and said camshaft gearing, and adjustable means determining the location of connection between said connecting rod and said camshaft gearing relative to the base of said detachable cylinder head structure.

10. In an engine, in combination, a lower structure, a "rotary engine element therein, a detachable cylinder head structure, a camshaft therein, a gear pump also in said cylinder head structure, aconnecting rod connecting said engine element to said gear pump for operation of said camshaft through the medium thereof, and adjustable means determining the location of connection between said connecting rod and said "ear pump relative to the base of said cylinder head structure.

11. In an engine, in combination, a lower structure, a rotary engine element having a crank in said lower structure, a cylinder head structure, a camshaft mounted therein, camshaft gearing in said cylinder head structure, an operating crank on said camshaft gear, a three-point connecting rod establishing driving connection between the crank of said engine element and the crank of said camshaft gearing, and a third crank mounted in said lower structure out of direct alignment of said first mentioned cranks and operated by said connecting rod.

12. In an engine, in combination, a lower structure, a rotary engine element in said lower structure, a cylinder head structure, a camshaft therein, camshaft gearing also in said cylinder head structure, a. three-point connecting rod operating said gearing from said engine element, a further rotary element in said lower structure out of direct alignment with the connection of said connecting rod with said gearing and with the first mentioned engine element, said further element being operated by said connecting rod.

13. In an engine, in combination, a lower structure, a rotary engine element having a crank in said lower structure, a cylinder head structure, a camshaft therein, a gear pump also in said cylinder head structure, an operating crank in said cylinder head structure for said gear pump, a connecting rod connecting the crank of said engine element with the crank of said pump, said pump being connected to said camshaft for the operation of said camshaft through the medium thereof, and a third crank mounted in said camshaft for the operation of said ca:m,

shaft through the medium thereof, and adjustable means determining the location of the connection between said connecting rod and said gear pump relative to the base of said cylinder head structure. a

15. In combination, a lower structure, a cylinder head structure, mechanism in said cylinder head .structure including a rotary element, a gear pump in said cylinder head structure having one .of its gears mounted in said rotary element to operate the same,

and means connecting the rotary element of said lower structure with another gear of said pump for the operation of said pump gears.

16. In an engine, a detachable cylinder head unit including, in combination, a cylinder head structure, a camshaft mounted therein, a crank mounted therein, gears operably connecting said camshaft to said crank, and a pump casing housing said gears whereby they operate as a gear pump.

17. In an engine,- a detachable cylinder head unit comprising, in combination, a cylinder head structure, a camshaft mounted therein, a crank therein, gears o erably connecting said crank to said cams aft, a support for said crank, said support being adjust-able about the axis of the camshaft for varying the position of the axis ofsaid crank, and means for securing said support in adjusted positions.

18. In an engine, a detachable cylinder head unit comprising, in'combination, a cylinder head structure, a camshaft mounted therein, acrank therein, gears operabl'y connecting said crank to said camshaft, a pump casing housing said gears and forming a support for said'crank, said pump casing being rotatable about the axis of said camshaft to vary the location of the axis of said crank, and means .for. securing said pump casing in positions of adj ustment.

19. In an engine, in combination with a crankshaft, a camshaft remote from said crankshaft, camshaft gearing having detachable mounting for said camshaft and said crankshaft whereby said camshaft and its mounting and'said gearing can be removed froman engine and renewed as a unit, a crank operably connected to said gearing, a corresponding crank on said crankshaft, and a connecting rod coupling said cranks,

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

' WARREN NOBLE. 

